Assistant Director of Graduate and Online Student Success

Summary

In support of the university’s mission and enrollment objectives, the Assistant Director manages graduate and online success coaches and assists in retention and overall student success efforts. The Assistant Director ensures that students are able to navigate university systems, stay on track academically, and access necessary resources. Also, this position supports the Director of Student Success and plays a key role in student engagement supporting broader university student engagement initiatives.

Student Success & Retention

• Serves as a main point of contact for assigned graduate and online students.
• Provides guidance on academic progress, registration, and university processes.
• Builds relationships with students to encourage academic success and retention.
• Tracks student progress and updates degree plans as needed.
• Identifies at-risk students and escalates concerns to the Director.
• Supports team in meeting enrollment goals.
• Works proactively and supports initiatives to retain students, identifies barriers to progression, and advocates for ways to improve degree completion outcomes.
  
  

Leadership & Team Development Support

• Supervises the graduate and online student Success Coaches.
• Supports the Director in training and onboarding Success Coaches.
• Assists with team meetings and staff development activities.
• Ensures communication standards and professionalism are upheld.
• Provides feedback on team performance to the Director.
• Maintains documentation of team processes and student interactions for reporting purposes.
  
  

Recruitment & Enrollment Assistance

• Contacts incoming students to facilitate enrollment and course registration.
• Serves as a resource for students considering stopping out, referring complex cases to the Director, as needed.
• Gathers student feedback on program experiences and shares it with leadership.
• Assists in coordinating enrollment communication with key stakeholders.
  
  

Administrative & Cross-Departmental Coordination

• Maintains student records, update databases, and compile reports.
• Analyzes data for trends and patterns with graduate and online students that contribute to their departure or stop-out and reports those to the Director.
• Supports the Director in process improvement initiatives, particularly in the graduate and online areas.
• Handles administrative duties as assigned, such as scheduling meetings or preparing materials.
• Serves as a liaison between Success Coaches and other university departments.
• Communicates student concerns and process inefficiencies to the Director.
• Assists in implementing student support initiatives developed by leadership.
  
  

Qualifications

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in Counseling, Educational Leadership, Higher Education Administration, or other related field, required; Master's degree preferred, or equivalent experience.
• 3 years’ experience in registrar, advising, student success, or similar higher education office, required.
  
  

ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Customer Service Orientation – Keeps internal and/or external key stakeholder(s), students, parents, faculty, staff and community partners in mind at all times.
• Professionalism – Displays a high level of professionalism, e.g. timeliness, reliability, communication, and work ethic.
• Christ-first Faith – Provides spiritual support to community members, including students, on their Christian faith journey.
• Analytical Thinking & Decision Making – Identifies and understands trends and/or issues, connects data points through analysis and logical conclusions/actionable strategies.
• Attention to Detail –Ability to efficiently and accurately focus on a specific task or number of tasks. Reviews details with a critical eye.
• Confidentiality – Maintains the necessary confidentiality and discretion required for the position.
• Continuous Improvement – Implement or brainstorm ways to optimize a process.
• Develops Others – Ability to promote continuous improvementwithin teams and/or individuals.
• Effective Communication – Expresses ideas and information in a clear and concise manner both verbally and in writing to convey clear, well-articulated messaging across a wide variety of audiences.
• Establishes Trust – Gains the confidence of others by actions and words that promote being honest, forthcoming, and vulnerable.
• Leadership/Influence –Ability to motivate, coach and develop others, as well as influence a group of people to achieve common goals, and implement university strategies. Strong supervisory skills.
• Results Orientation & Accountability – Takes accountability and identifies, executes and drives actions to consistently achieve desired results.
• Teamwork & Collaboration – Creates a climate that fosters commitment to a common vision and shared values that promote cooperation and working together through trust and support of others both departmentally and cross-functionally.
  
  

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to work non-routine hours during certain times of the year.
• Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time.
• Ability to traverse campus and stairs.